Casino Welcome Bonuses: A Guide
Every online casino offers welcome bonuses. They’re a great way to get new players to try the casino. After all, who doesn’t want bonus money?
As a player, you might be eligible for thousands of dollars in bonuses. There may even be free spins on the slots involved. But, before you claim these bonuses, you should know how they work, and what the best one is for you.
Top Canadian Casino Welcome Bonuses
What is a Welcome Bonus?
It’s the first bonus you’ll receive after you’ve signed up for an online casino. These deposit bonuses help you experience as much of the casino as possible. The casino wants you to feel “welcomed” so that you become a return customer.
This bonus type is great for people new to the world of online casinos. If your first deposit is $20 and the casino welcome bonus happens to be a match bonus, then you’ve got $40 to play with.
Casino welcome bonuses are a great way to extend your playing time. So, before you decide on a deposit bonus, let’s dig into them. We’ll look at how they’re structured, the conditions surrounding them and the different types of casino bonuses like free spins.
Welcome Bonus Structure
While the structure of these bonuses is explained when signing up to an online casino, we want to break down how a typical welcome bonus works. For this example, we’ll use CasinoFriday. New players can claim up to $1000 in bonus money. That potential $1000 is broken up into three separate deposit bonuses:
| First Deposit Bonus | 100% up to $300 |
| Second Deposit Bonus | 50% up to $300 |
| Third Deposit Bonus | 25% up to $400 |
Players have 7 days after signup to claim their deposit bonus. This means, that in order to take full advantage of it, you must make all 3 deposits within 30 days. If you only make 1 of the 3 deposits, then you’ll only get the bonus on that first deposit.
Bonus Structure for our Casinos
Each online casino is different. Let’s take a look at the welcome bonuses offered at four of our top casinos:
- Jackpot City: At Jackpot City, they offer a 100% match up to $1600. This is split over 4 deposits maxed out at $400 each.
- Play Amo: PlayAmo casino offers up to $1500 that’s split over two different deposits. The first deposit is a 100% match up to $500 and comes with 20 free spins per day for 5 days on Luck Lady’s Clover slot. The second deposit is a 50% match up to $1000 with 50 free spins on the Lucky Blue slot.
- All Slots Casino: The welcome bonus at All Slots Casino is a 100% match up to $1500. It is spread out over 3 deposits of up to $500.
- Spin Casino: They have a deposit bonus of up to $1000 with a 100% match. The bonus is broken down into 3 deposits. The first deposit maxes out at $400 and the next two max out at $300.
You generally have 7 days to claim the bonus before it expires with any of the above-mentioned casinos. They’re also all optional. But why might someone opt out of free money? Well, playthrough requirements can sometimes intimidate players.
What is a Playthrough Requirement?
Match Bonus = 100%
Wager Req.(PR) = 30x
So…
PR x (Deposit + Bonus) =
$1,200
In this case you have to wager $1,200 before you can withdraw your winnings.
In simple terms, a playthrough or wager requirement is the amount of money you are required to bet before you can withdraw your money. Also known as wagering or rollover requirements, these are attached to most online casino bonuses.
A playthrough requirement can range from 30x all the way up to over 60x of your initial deposit bonus.
So, before you can withdraw any winnings associated with that casino bonus, you need to bet $1,200. This may seem daunting, but the average payout at these casinos is around 95%.
That means for every $1 you bet, on average you are getting back $0.95, unless of course you win big. Depending on the wagering contributions for your casino game of choice, meeting a wagering requirement can happen pretty fast.
How do wagering contributions work?
When it comes to casino bonuses, particularly welcome bonuses, you should research the casino’s wagering contributions. In a nutshell, this determines how much of the money you bet goes towards hitting a rollover requirement.
Ex. Online Roulette might only contribute 20%, so for every $1 you wager, only $0.20 will go towards your playthrough.
In this case, all casino games are not created equally. Online casinos assign different wagering contributions to each game type they offer. For instance, at 888 Casino:
| Category | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Video Slots & Slots, Scratch Cards, Keno, Race, Arcade, Dice, and all other games not mentioned in the table. | 100% |
| All versions of Roulette, Pai Gow Poker, and Caribbean Poker | 20% |
| All versions of Blackjack, Video Poker, Baccarat, Live Casino Hold’em & Live Roulette | 10% |
| Craps | 5% |
As you can see, some games hit that wagering requirement better than others. With most casinos, online slots will offer the best percentage for wagering contribution. Live casino games tend to have poor wagering contributions.
Free Spins
Free spins are a casino bonus will also help you extend your play time. Depending on the casino, bonus free spins could be a promotion on their own or attached to a welcome bonus. Usually these free spins will be associated with a specific slot.
- Ex. #1 – If 888 Casino wanted to promote the Narcos Video Slot, they might offer 20 Free Spins with every deposit bonus.
- Ex. #2 – Bodog Casino is running doing a promotion for 40 free spins on the A Night With Cleo slot.
In both instances there are playthrough requirements for these casino bonuses, so take that into account when claiming the bonus.
Getting the Most from Bonuses
When claiming any casino bonus, it’s important that you read the fine print. That way you can make sure you are getting the most out of a casino welcome bonus and not missing out.
When claiming a bonus, you should be asking yourself things like, what is the max/min amount I can deposit? What are the playthrough requirements? Is there an expiry date? Do the games I’m interested in have high or low wagering contributions?
By researching these things before you start, you’ll ensure that you have the best chance at a great experience with the online casino that you’ve picked.
Welcome Bonus FAQs
No, you cannot transfer it to a friend. This bonus is tied to your specific account. In accepting it, you agree to certain terms and conditions that can’t be transferred to a friend.
Yes, you do. As long as the online casino you’ve picked is mobile-friendly, then you’ll have access to all the casino’s promotions, including the welcome bonus. If you are unsure, then check with the casino’s customer service. They are there to answer your questions.
Yes, you do. These are designed to provide value to new online casino members. So, in order to claim it, you have to be a member.
No – but you could be leaving money on the table. Most online casinos will give you the option during sign-up to decline the bonus. Make sure you read about the conditions for each welcome bonus before you claim it. Once you have accepted the bonus, you are bound to its particular wagering requirements.
Yes – with expiry periods varying by casino. Each online casino has different rules surrounding bonus expiration. Some will require you to make all the required deposits within a certain time frame. So, casinos will require you to meet your playthrough requirement within 30 days. It all depends on the casino you have picked. The best way to answer this question is to check the term and conditions for your particular casino.
Online casinos won’t generally restrict the deposit method you use to claim your bonus. Whatever deposit methods the casino accepts will work for this. So, it could be anything from Mastercard and Visa to Instadebit and Ecopayz.
A welcome bonus is offered to first time customers at a casino and will usually be a bit more generous than a deposit bonus. Deposit bonuses exist for both new and returning customers.
You should consider one of these bonuses if you’d like more opportunities to play the games offered at the online casino you picked. The welcome bonus lets you play the games for longer, in turn, increases your chances of winning big.
No – it will not make it harder for you to win. It will in fact give you more opportunities to win. It just might take a bit longer to get your winnings as you will need to hit the casino bonus’ wagering requirement before withdrawing your money.
